The Bears have an issue applying pressure on quarterbacks

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — On third-and-11 with the Packers on their 23-yard line, Jordan Love lined up in the shotgun and had three pass catchers to his left. The Packers’ quarterback called for the snap, dropped back and surveyed the field.

Five seconds passed and Love found Christian Watson for a 16-yard gain in a window between Bears defensive backs Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon to convert the chains.

Love had all day to throw in the Bears‘ 20-19 loss to the Packers at Soldier Field on Sunday. Chicago’s one sack on Love came in the fourth quarter after DeMarcus Walker chased Love, forcing the Packers’ quarterback to run out of bounds to his right for a 1-yard loss.

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus realizes his defense has struggled to create pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

“Definitely need a more, better coordinated pass rush, getting on the quarterback, H.O.Q., hitting the quarterback,” Eberflus said. “That’s something we have to look at. We have to be better there, for sure. That’s something we’re going to look at this week, for sure. It’s something that we have to be coordinated with and have a better result.”

According to Next Gen Stats, Love finished with a 3.31 average time to throw — the third most in Week 11 and only behind Lamar Jackson (3.45) and Patrick Mahomes (3.35).

Montez Sweat is second on the team with 3.5 sacks—just slightly behind Gervon Dexter Sr., who has four on the season. Sweat’s last sack was in the Hail Mary loss to the Commanders in Week 8.

“We just got to be better up front,” Sweat said after the game. “The rush lanes were breaking down a little bit. We got to have a better chip plan. A lot of things that we can be more detailed in. Just didn’t get the job done today.”

With 25 sacks through 10 games played, the Bears are in the middle of the league and tied with five other teams, including the Packers and Lions. Dexter, who leads the team in sacks, hasn’t registered one in the last five games.

In the Bears’ four-game losing streak, the defense has generated just seven sacks, two of which occurred in the losses to the Packers and Patriots.

The Bears can’t afford to have any unit underperform, and right now, the pass rush isn’t pulling its weight and is just one of the many reasons why this team hasn’t won a game since Oct. 13.

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